A wide variety of tools are used in the oil and gas industry for forming wellbores, in completing drilled wellbores, and in producing hydrocarbons such as oil and gas from completed wells. Examples of these tools include cutting tools, such as drill bits, reamers, stabilizers, and coring bits; drilling tools, such as rotary steerable devices and mud motors; and other tools, such as window mills, tool joints, and other wear-prone tools. These tools, and several other types of tools outside the realm of the oil and gas industry, are often formed as metal matrix composites (MMCs), and are referred to herein as “MMC tools.”
Cutting tools, in particular, are frequently used to drill oil and gas wells, geothermal wells, and water wells. For example, fixed-cutter drill bits are often formed with a composite bit body (sometimes referred to in the industry as a matrix bit body), having cutting elements or inserts disposed at select locations about the exterior of the matrix bit body. During drilling, these cutting elements engage the subterranean formation and remove adjacent portions thereof.
MMCs used in a matrix bit body of a fixed-cutter bit are generally erosion-resistant and exhibit high impact strength. However, some portions of the matrix bit body may be more prone to erosion when engaging the surrounding formation and may, therefore, benefit from greater erosion-resistance. Other portions of the matrix bit body, however, may be more prone to cracking from mechanical stresses conveyed during drilling and may, therefore, benefit from greater impact strength.